Aerospace firm Woodward to build plant near Rockford

Aerospace and energy firm Woodward Inc. will invest more than $200 million to build a new manufacturing plant and offices near Rockford, which it says will create 660 jobs over the next five years.

The plans are expected to be announced later this morning by company executives and Gov. Pat Quinn, who courted the expansion in Loves Park, which already is home to Woodward facilities. The state is providing a package of financial incentives with a potential worth of nearly $50 million.

A number of Illinois-based universities that produce engineering graduates also participated in the effort to keep the expansion in-state. The Fort Collins, Colo.-based company considered other possible sites, including in South Carolina and Wisconsin.

The new campus will house Woodward's Aircraft Turbine Systems business, including about 300,000 square-feet of production and office space on 60 acres. The company plans to break ground this fall, with initial occupancy planned for late 2013.

"Our success in gaining new business created numerous investment opportunities," Woodward Chairman and CEO Thomas A. Gendron said in a prepared statement. The new business stemmed from projected growth in the airline industry and heightened demand for next-generation narrow body jets, the company has stated.

The company, founded in 1870, said its decision was made after a year-long investigation into how to deal with expected growth over the next decade. The company recently has struck deals that will put its aircraft turbine products into Boeing and Airbus narrow-body aircraft.

The company plans to double its work force in the Rockford area by 2021. Rockford had an unemployment rate of 11.5 percent in June, according to preliminary non-seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This outstrips the comparable state rate of 9.3 percent in June, and the national rate that month of 8.4 percent.

"The Rockford region's highly skilled work force makes Illinois an ideal place for companies like Woodward that are looking to grow," Quinn said in a prepared statement.

The state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is providing an investment package that includes Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) corporate income tax credits. The potential value of the tax credits, which are based on the company meeting job creation and retention goals, is $45 million.

The state also is providing $578,000 in Employer Training Investment Program (ETIP) job training funds, $3 million in capital grants for site improvements and $500,000 in Business Development Public Infrastructure Program funds to the city of Loves Park.

The company has more than 6,000 employees in 10 countries, including approximately 1,500 employees at its current Loves Park facility. Woodward plans to double its workforce in the Rockford area by 2021.